Damaged roads are the main grievance of Tambaram residents

Since the Tambaram Corporation was formed in 2021, several infrastructure projects have been initiated. However, the roads in the localities are crying for attention, say residents.

The Tambaram Corporation, which has 70 wards, was formed with the merger of five municipalities and five town panchayats. It has a total road length of 950 km, excluding the 60 km of roads of the State Highways Department criss-crossing the Corporation areas.

Residents of south Chennai localities — such as Pallavaram, Chromepet, Hasthinapuram, Sembakkam, Thiruneermalai, Pammal, Anakaputhur, and Selaiyur — are facing hardship because of the poor roads, which have been damaged while infrastructure projects are being carried out. Among the projects are the underground drainage network and the cut-and-cover drains and the storm water drains.

The roads were always in a bad condition in Chennai suburbs as the local bodies were said to have lacked funds to repair them. However, when the Tambaram Corporation was formed, residents and social welfare activists hoped for better roads and other amenities.

The Corporation has been taking steps to supply safe and dependable drinking water and expedite underground drainage network, but the roads remain ignored.

Social activist V. Santhanam points to the allotment of ₹30 crore for monsoon preparations, including funds for repairing and relaying roads. He says several roads are in bad shape at Chromepet, including Chromepet Workshop Road, Vivekananda School Road, BBR Nagar Main Road, New Colony Second Main Road, and 14th and 16th Cross Streets. He says these roads are links to the interior parts of Chromepet. They are full of potholes that cause severe inconvenience to people. The manner in which the patchwork was done leaves much to be desired, he says. Instead of following the regular procedure of filling the potholes with concrete-mixed gravel chips, the agencies concerned filled them with only gravel chips, he says.

While the roads are bad in Chromepet owing to wear and tear, in other parts of the Tambaram Corporation, the roads have been damaged during the execution of the underground drainage and cut-and-cover drain projects.

In Pammal and Anakaputhur, the roads suffered extensive damage as the Corporation built the underground drainage over past two years. Several important roads in Pammal, which has a large population, have been damaged. The Corporation has directed the contractor executing the underground drainage project to complete the work early.

Office-bearers of the Pammal Shankar Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association say the 3rd Cross Street, 32nd Street, and 38th to 41st Streets, besides the arterial Gandhi Main Road and Shankar Nagar Main Road, are hard to navigate. At some places, the dumping of the debris blocks the storm water drain. The result is stagnation of rainwater for days that causes inconvenience to motorists.

Residents of Thiruneermalai, near Pammal, complain about the Thiruneermalai Road left battered by the underground drainage project. The road links the GST Road with Thirumudivakkam. The debris dumped on the storm water drain on this road has caused fears about flooding.

The residents worst affected by the implementation of the infrastructure projects, especially the cut-and-cover drains being laid by the Water Resources Department (WRD), are those residing in Sembakkam. To evacuate excess water from the Sembakkam lake to the Nanmangalam Eri, the WRD has dug up the Sembakkam-Nanmangalam Main Road and Thirumalai Nagar Main Road, causing inconvenience to motorists going to the Medavakkam Main Road.

A. Dhanasekhar, a resident of Sembakkam, says hundreds of motorists face hardship daily because of the macro-drain work through the Ponni Amman Koil junction. The Sembakkam-Nanmangalam Main Road is the only road for residents to reach the Medavakkam Main Road.

Chitlapakkam resident P. Viswanathan says the road has not been relaid above the cut-and-cover drain constructed from the Chitlapakkam lake to the Sembakkam lake through Thirumurugan Salai, Ramana Street, Maruthupandi Street, and Babu and Balaji Avenues.

A senior official of the Tambaram Corporation says numerous civic infrastructure projects were carried out in the past three years. Over 250 roads spanning nearly 50 km have been relaid at a total cost of ₹20 crore. Of the 250 roads that have been relaid, more than 30 are concrete roads. The funds were received under various schemes, including the Tamil Nadu Urban Road Infrastructure Project and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

While ₹75 lakh has been set aside for repairing the damaged arterial roads in Pammal and Anakaputhur, where the underground drainage network is being built, ₹5.44 crore has been allotted for taking up patchwork of roads to a length of more than 50 km. The work has started at several places. The Tambaram Mayor and the Corporation Commissioner have been inspecting the restoration work regularly, the officials adds.

The Corporation has sent a detailed project report to the Tamil Nadu government, seeking ₹56 crore for repaving roads to a length of 110 km.

Published - September 23, 2024 12:02 am IST